Quotes of the day

posted at 10:32 pm on May 9, 2012 by Allahpundit

In the end, the values that the President cares most deeply about is how we treat other people. The President and First Lady are both practicing Christians, and obviously this position may be considered to put them at odds with the views of others, but when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d want to be treated.

We make it absolutely clear that we are talking about civil marriages and civil laws. This isn’t a federal issue. We must be respectful of religious liberty, that churches and other faith institutions are still going to be able to make determinations about what their sacraments are, what they recognize.

***

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s comments over the weekend “expedited” the president’s timing in making his announcement, aides said in interviews on Wednesday, but it did not help shape his decision. The president has gradually reached his position over the last year, advisers said, and was particularly influenced last year when legislators in New York voted to legalize same-sex marriage.

But Biden’s remarks deeply annoyed Obama’s team, people close to the situation tell POLITICO, because it aggrandized his role at the expense of Obama’s yeoman efforts on behalf of the community and pushed up the timing of a sensitive announcement they had hoped to break — at a time and place of their own choosing — in the weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this fall.

Nor did it tickle anyone, from Obama on down, that Biden — who backed the Defense of Marriage Act while serving in the Senate in the 1990s — seemed to be getting more credit in the LGBT community than a president who has actually taken steps to repeal the Clinton-era law that defined marriage as something that could only take place between a man and a woman.

And it chafed Obama’s team that Biden had, at times, privately argued for the president to hold off on his support of marriage equality to avoid a backlash among Catholic voters in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to two officials familiar with those discussions.

***

But his decision also reflects a hard-headed acknowledgement of the changing nature of the Democratic electoral coalition. Indeed, historians may someday view Obama’s announcement Wednesday as a milestone in the evolution of his party’s political strategy, because it shows the president and his campaign team are increasingly comfortable responding to the actual coalition that elects Democrats today-not the one that many in the party remember from their youth…

Obama’s announcement might not significantly change the overall level of his 2012 support, especially in an election where economic issues will dominate. But the announcement may reflect the Obama camp’s thinking about the likely composition of his support. It shows the president, however reluctantly, formulating an agenda that implicitly acknowledges the party is unlikely to recreate the support it attracted from the white working-class and senior voters who anchored Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal coalition. Instead, the announcement shows him reaching out to mobilize the new pillars of the Democratic electorate, particularly younger people and socially liberal white collar whites.

“This is beyond unifying — it’s electrifying,” said Eugene Sepulveda, a former top bundler who withdrew to take a non-political job early this year. “This man stands for right, despite the political consequences.”

And for a class of disillusioned progressive mega-donors, many of them gay, the completion of Obama’s “evolution” is an invitation reason to return.

***

“That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.”

***

Richard Grenell, the gay Republican foreign policy aide who resigned from his job on the Mitt Romney campaign last week after the religious right raised objections, wasn’t cutting Mr. Obama much slack on Wednesday. “While I am pleased with President Obama’s new decision, it’s important to keep politicians from playing politics with a group’s civil rights,” Mr. Grenell said in an interview. “The president’s timing suggests that he is once again more concerned with his own political calculations than with actual equal rights. The president could have evolved when the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate, or even yesterday, before the swing state of North Carolina voted.”

Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly expressed concern when asked about the long-term effects of having a sitting president supporting gay marriage and polling that shows an increasing number of voters support same-sex marriage, especially young voters.

“What you say about the polls is correct about the younger people feeling a lot differently,” she told The Hill Wednesday afternoon. “I think [Obama is] making a terrible mistake for the future of our country as well as politically.”

***

LaSalvia says most Republicans have welcomed GOProud to the fold. “I go all over the country and gay people come up to me and say, ‘I’m not ready to vote Republican yet, but I’m really conservative.’”

He continued: “I speak at colleges once or twice a month, and every single time I’ve gone to a college the speech has been sponsored by the campus conservative group or the College Republicans. Not that long ago that speech would have been sponsored by the campus gay group. Whenever I’m at a conservative event like CPAC, my experience is overwhelmingly positive. I always hear ‘We’re so glad you’re here.’ And I hear all the time from big names in the conservative movement, ‘I can’t say it publicly yet, but I support you’re right to marry.’ I also hear ‘it’s not an issue for me.’”

***

“It is very sad to me that people who belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln are resisting so strenuously the equality and decency and integrity and treatment of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters,” Olson said. “This seems to be one of the last major civil rights battles of our country. And for people in our country to come out in numbers like this and say, ‘Well, we don’t want the persons next door—who are decent, God-fearing, taxpaying, obeying-the-law citizens who simply want to have happiness like the rest of us’—to say ‘No, I have that right and you can’t have it.’ That just seems mean to me.”

***

Depite his evolution on the matter, Obama contends that he still supports states’ right to decide the issue. So perhaps one day someone covering the White House can ask Jay Carney or the president why gay marriage deserves special consideration? Even Adam Sewer at the hopelessly left-wing Mother Jones correctly notes: “Obama has endorsed marriage equality federalism—not the notion that marriage for gays and lesbians is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution that can never be taken away.”

Which begs an obvious question: If Obama has endorsed federalism and believes that states have the right to define marriage, then why doesn’t he support the ability of states to extricate themselves from Obamacare? Why don’t states have the right to dictate their immigration laws? And does he “personally” believe that states should be able decide the issue of abortion? Roe v. Wade exists, but so does the Defense of Marriage Act.

This is a harsh indictment, but it’s one that follows inexorably from premises that many of the president’s own supporters have wholeheartedly embraced. If they hold true to these premises — and the press holds true to its obligations — then the kind of uncomfortable questions the White House spent this week dodging will be asked again and again of the president over the course of the campaign to come.

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I can’t believe that Axelturde and Ploufey are this bad, or was it that they didn’t have to be that good when the MSM wasn’t going to vette their candidate?

uncommon sense on May 10, 2012 at 12:53 AM

I really think the latter. When they had the media in their corner and the public wasn’t suffering from The Won’s policies, they had the enthusiasm and aura of being historical in voting for the first AA president. Now that the economy has not improved (one could argue that in many ways it is worse than before the regime took office) and people see that the policies implemented have only spent a whole lot of money with no real results, not even the press can paper over this mess.

Uncommon
I just think Rmoney™ has assembled a great, very smart and quick team, you know, like he did in the business world. Dumb ppl don’t start with very little and then make millions by underestimating anyone…….

We make it absolutely clear that we are talking about civil marriages and civil laws. This isn’t a federal issue. We must be respectful of religious liberty, that churches and other faith institutions are still going to be able to make determinations about what their sacraments are, what they recognize.

Obamacare violating Catholic tenets of faith anyone?

This isn’t a federal issue.

Mos

things aren’t, including 85%+ of what the Federals are currently doing anyway.

Nice job of cherry-picking issues to get all Constitutionally-defensive about, you Commie Punk!
/

What I really don’t understand is why Bammy’s team didn’t force him to dump old uncle Joe, they know he’s a loose cannon with no common sense. Maybe Hillary told him to forget about her helping him but still……….

Now that the obamanation has outed himself, what will the black and hispanic voting blocs do come November. Both blocs dislike and have voted against “gay” marriage initatives these last few years. Will the WON (and dems down ballot) lose enough of their votes to matter?…

Good to see you..You are doing a very good job of reading the tea leaves!!..:)

Dire Straits on May 10, 2012 at 12:59 AM

It really isn’t that hard, as if you look back at the 08 campaign they were able to play offense the entire time, even regarding issues such as Rev. Wright. The media was in the tank and weren’t going to allow any vetting.

What I really don’t understand is why Bammy’s team didn’t force him to dump old uncle Joe, they know he’s a loose cannon with no common sense. Maybe Hillary told him to forget about her helping him but still……….

angrymike on May 10, 2012 at 1:10 AM

I still think that uncle Joe didn’t force this, he was laying the ground work. The problem came from how fast everything actually got covered this time and the vote in NC. They really did want to slow role this, but they new it was going to come out and tried to stay ahead of the power curve… fortunately it just happens to make him look like an opportunist. :)

I just think Rmoney™ has assembled a great, very smart and quick team, you know, like he did in the business world. Dumb ppl don’t start with very little and then make millions by underestimating anyone…….

angrymike on May 10, 2012 at 1:03 AM

Totally agree, but it doesn’t hurt that the bully isn’t used to being bullied either. The One’s team seems to have been off balance at every turn so far, and part of that has been the quick response of not only Rmoney™, but the entire conservative community as a whole. They have forced the MSM to cover some of this and for team Obamie to respond, or look weak and even more ineffectual than they normally do.

As me, you and Dire said, great work team Rmoney™, Please don’t let up………

angrymike on May 10, 2012 at 1:21 AM

I also think that the MSM has to start covering things, otherwise they look to lose market share and influence. Kind of like how politicians have come to realize that everything they say will find its way to youtube, the MSM is starting to realize that the populace can find other sources of news, they can’t keep covering for him and expect to survive.

The President and First Lady are both practicing Christians, and obviously this position may be considered to put them at odds with the views of others, but when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d want to be treated.

Puke worthy. Those two turds sat in that nasty ass Jeremiah Wright’s church for twenty years with no problem.

Now that the obamanation has outed himself, what will the black and hispanic voting blocs do come November. Both blocs dislike and have voted against “gay” marriage initatives these last few years. Will the WON (and dems down ballot) lose enough of their votes to matter?…

Gohawgs on May 10, 2012 at 1:10 AM

Good question, I do believe it will supress the turn out in some areas, but he’ll still get 90% of the black vote regardless. The Hispanic community is something different. Though they mainly vote D, they do tend to be conservative Catholics, if the bishops keep pushing their agenda, I would be unheard of to see a lower turn out, or some voting against the One.

historians may someday view Obama’s announcement Wednesday as a milestone in the evolution of his party’s political strategy

..will historians also note that the 2012 Obama is 180′ from the 2008 Obama.

Do the 52% even recognize or know who they voted for in 2008.
Obama has gladly embraced and even expanded Bush’s War on Terror policies…
….embraced and hired lobbyist….
………..Gitmo is still open
……………..Signing statements are no problem
…………………..going to war against oil rich countries that did not attack us and posed no imminent threat is now “smart power”…he!!..Obama doesn’t even get Congressional approval before going to war.
…………serious lack of Transparency
……………….K-street and Wall St. money filling up his pockets
……added massively to the deficit and debt after preaching “fiscal responsibility”
……..raising the debt ceiling on a regular basis after claiming this same act under Bush was “irresponsible and showed a lack of leadership”
………………promised to execute and win the war in Afghanistan that he now is hopelessly trying to pawn his surrender off onto “peace negotiations”
…..”pay for play and earmarks” rule the day
………………..High unemployment,cost of living going through the roof,energy prices going sky high,and bailouts are what’s for dinner from our “Food Stamp President”
……….
………..on…and…on…and….on…and…on the “evolution” of Obama is only matched by the spinning and lame justifications coming from his followers….
How Progressive!!!

Our economy is in ruins
Our foreign policy is a nightmare
The Middle East is in utter chaos
Putin has ascended to his throne, again
Fast and Furious
A rogue DOJ
Executive fiats
No budget in 1000+ days
Gas prices are too high
Unemployment is much higher than “official” reports
ObamaCare
Our administration seeks to strike down Voter ID laws
Keystone Pipeline will die a slow death
War on Oil
War on Big Business
War on Wall Street
Dissing heads of state from ally countries
Union thugs in bed with the administration

But, BUT, President Barack Hussein Obama supports gay marriage!
So, weighing everything carefully, I’ve decided to pull that lever for a second term for Dog Eater, I mean Dear Leader!

So the WH has no compunction in bringing in the Lord Jesus and the Bible as talking points to justify immorality condemned by God? When did false prophets start clinging bitterly to their Bibles? This is incredible blasphemy.
INC on May 9, 2012 at 11:30 PM

Hate to say this, INC, but if this guy isn’t defeated by a landslide then we’ll know that God has, indeed, turned His back on this nation.

The President and First Lady are both practicing Christians, and obviously this position may be considered to put them at odds with the views of others, but when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d want to be treated.

Let me start this post by noting that I am gay. I also believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. For tax purposes, inheritance and other legal issues, I think that gay couples should be able to establish domestic partnerships. (Most importantly, I’m a strong proponent of a pure flat tax and the abolishment of confiscatory “death taxes” on wealth that has already been taxed because its main goal is redistribution.) Lastly, I believe that this legal issue falls under the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government.

Now that I’ve established that, here’s how Romney and the RNC need to approach this issue:

1) Point out the our ever-evolving President has come to pretty much the same conclusion as Sarah Palin, in that he believes this is a state issue.

2) PRESS Obama to discuss how he sees the role of the federal government on this issue. Should gay couples be allowed to file jointly to save on their federal taxes? When a gay person dies, should their partner be able to collect their social security benefits? Should that same surviving “spouse” be able to inherit a sizable estate without having to pay the death tax? If he answers yes to any of these questions, how does he plan to offset the substantial cumulative “cost” of this to federal revenues?

Mika is hilarious on Moaning Joe. She is running the show and when one guest starts talking about job loss, she steers the conversation away. When another talks about the poor economy, she steers away. Hispanics and black churches not in favor of gay marriage, steer away.

Did anyone else hear on Morning Joe that Bidden taped his Meet the Depressed interview last Friday afternoon? The “surprised” reaction from the obama machine beginning on Sunday was pure Kabuki theater. I’m SHOCKED, I tell you!

but when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d want to be treated.

I assume that abortion doesn’t fit into that description? Death Panels? Freedom of conscience? Property (Kelo) rights? Charity not by Caesar? Moral contamination of our children?